The Opponent: Shrewsbury Town
Why do I get the feeling there won’t be a sudden surge of impressionable young Swindonian’s running down to the nearest willing tattooist to have their name inked upon their forehead’s? OK, the past of Nile Ranger is somewhat, well, shocking. It seems some may wish to judge him on this past, which, of course, is their prerogative, and others may wish to judge him on the fact that he has been charged with rape. The thing is, regardless of previous convictions, innocent until proven guilty remains a basic tenet of English law, something I am glad of. The only evidence I have the slightest bit of interest in is whether he is capable of scoring the goals and creating the chances that take us, and keep us in the top 6 of League 1. Looking at his footballing past there isn’t really a great deal to suggest his 1 goal in every 25 appearances is likely to do this, but who knows, League 1 could be the level that sees him flourish. Sadly I feel this signing may gather a bit of negative publicity, especially with the inbred folk up the A420. Is Nile Ranger the man to wear the No.9 shirt? Time (and court appearances) will tell.
So, its the other STFC today. Our friends from North Wales have looked forward to this match on the last few occasions now, I think it started when we had the audacity to sign Di Canio as our manager, and turn them over at the County Ground later the same season, much to the disgust of Graham Turner, mixed in with a heavy dose of Dosser provocation. Work won’t allow me to get to this one today, I made the journey last season and have to say the Shrewsbury fans were amongst some of the strangest beings I have came across. The welcoming committee at the pub resembled a scene from outside the Tesco Express in Blackbird Leas and inside the Meccano-like glorified non-league ground a handful of their ‘lads’ spent the entire 90 minutes giving us the finger From what I can remember, the parking was fucking dreadful at Shrewsbury, a good 15 minute walk to the ground, and the pub was just as far. All in all I’m quite happy to be missing this one, although it would be more fun than collecting garden weathered sofas in Tetbury and Calne.
Worth a visit – If you do have a bit of time (and the yearning to find a decent pub), the indoor market in Shrewsbury is off Baker Street on the first and second floor and easy for non-locals to miss but it is well worth finding and exploring all the way to the top. It has a wide range of stalls selling food, books, music, arts and crafts and most importantly, much much cheese. Apparently it is open on a Saturday, which kind of makes sense.
They’ve served us both – Jimmy Quinn, Jamie Cureton, Tim Parkin, Moses Ashikodi, Jake Jervis, Dave Hockaday, James Collins, Ian Woan, Paul (What a free kick) Evans, Tope Odebayi, and the magnificent Fola Onibuje! Seems to be a fair few strikers amongst that lot.
Where the opposition gather – One of the various Swindon related threads to enjoy. I must say, the past form of these guys has been hilarious at times. I have never seen so much fury from one little club’s main forum! All seems fairly quiet at the moment, although the usual Swindon troll hasn’t visited yet it seems. (NOT GUILTY)
http://blueandamber.proboards.com/thread/84877/nile-rangerLast 6 – LDWWDL (After 2 games so far this season they have lost 1 and drawn 1)
The Odds – Shrewsbury 12/5 Draw 12/5 Swindon 5/4. In case you do want to throw some cash away, Nile Ranger is 6/1 to score the 1st goal. With his previous goalscoring ratio, albeit much from the bench, and not much chance of him starting, 16/1 would be about right. I am hoping that my dismissive attitude leads to him scoring a 2nd half hat trick.
The Son Says – We are moving home on Sunday, but he still found the time away from packing a 20ft containers worth of STFC memorabilia to predict a 2-0 victory for the one and only STFC.
The Prediction – If, and its a big if, the same Swindon turn up that did for the first half against Stevenage, it could be a slaughtering. However, I think Nile’s initiation song on the coach on the way up (Coolio’s Gangstas Paradise) could make the lads feel a little uneasy, so I am going to agree with the lad and go for a 2-0 win, goals from Storey and Luongo, 4’926 in attendance with 646 travelling up.
And Finally – This took some digging, Martin Wood from Shrewsbury, is the world’s tallest town crier, measuring in at a lofty 7ft 2”! Oh yay indeed.
